The U.S. Energy Department anticipates by early February issuing a draft request for proposals (RFP) for waste management at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Dec. 23 procurement notice the draft solicitation for what it now calls the Savannah River Site Integrated Mission Completion Contract will be issued within 15 to 45 days. That translates to somewhere between Jan. 7 and Feb. 6 if things go as planned.
As the agency explained previously, the new award would replace the Savannah River Site liquid waste management contract now held by AECOM-led Savannah River Remediation. It will also cover some nuclear materials work currently done under the Savannah River Site operations contract held by Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. Both contracts are scheduled to lapse on Sept. 30, 2020.
Savannah River Remediation started work in July 2009 on its $6 billion contract for storage and treatment of more than 30 million gallons of radioactive waste generated by the site’s Cold War nuclear weapons mission. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ $14.8 billion agreement dates to August 2008.
The integrated mission contractor will “provide a comprehensive risk-based methodology to the legacy cleanup project, such as the dispositioning of radioactive liquid waste through the Salt Waste Processing Facility,” followed by vitrification of high-activity waste at the SRS Defense Waste Processing Facility, according to the notice.
The vendor will also use existing SRS facilities to receive, store, and disposition aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel, and provide various project management and support services.
A site tour and one-on-one meetings with potential vendors will likely be scheduled within three weeks after the draft RFP is issued, according to the notice. That will probably happen in February, according to the DOE notice.
The primary contact for the procurement is DOE Contracting Officer Jodi Gordon, [email protected].